Pope Francis to meet top Sunni imam at the Vatican

By Elise Harris

Vatican City, May 19, 2016 / 09:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- An official meeting between Pope Francis and Imam Ahmed al Tayyeb will take place Monday at the Vatican, signaling a new step in Catholic-Muslim relations.

“An audience between the Pope and the Great Imam of al Azhar is being prepared for Monday,” Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi told journalists May 19.

He said the schedule for the visit “still has to be defined,” but confirmed that the meeting will take place Monday, May 23.

The Imam of al Azhar, currently Ahmed al Tayyeb, is considered by some Muslims to be the highest authority in Sunni Islam and oversees Egypt’s al-Azhar Mosque and the prestigious al-Azhar University attached to it.

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-francis-to-meet-top-sunni-imam-at-the-vatican-35212/